PHOENIX — A man died after being stabbed by his girlfriend in a domestic dispute Sunday in west Phoenix, according to officials with the Phoenix Police Department.
Officers responded to a home near 51st Avenue and Thomas Road just after noon after a woman, identified by police as Esperanza Bautista Valencia, 52, called 911 and said she stabbed her boyfriend, Sergeant Mayra Reeson with the Phoenix Police Department public affairs bureau said in a statement.
Responding officers found the man in the driveway with multiple stab wounds. He died of his injuries.
Valencia told officers she broke the victim’s phone the night before during a fight, and he slept somewhere else. The following morning, she picked him up and brought him back home, where they began drinking alcohol on the porch, court records show.
While they were drinking, Valencia noticed the victim had a work lunchbox with him and became enraged, believing he was going to leave her. Valencia said they began to argue, and the victim pushed her. She then went into the kitchen, grabbed a large knife, and threatened to kill the victim for pushing her.
Valencia told police she slashed the victim’s right arm after he raised his hand and then stabbed him in the chest when he tried to stop the attack. Police say the victim fell face forward onto the ground, and Valencia stood over him and urged him to get up. She told officers she didn’t believe he was injured.
After several minutes of standing over the victim, Valencia said she rolled him over and noticed he was bleeding from the chest. She said that’s when she called 911 and began rinsing the knife off in the kitchen sink. Valencia said she began to panic and placed the knife next to the victim’s body.
Valencia told investigators she could have separated herself from the victim but chose not to because she was upset with him. She also shared a history of threatening the victim with knives and domestic violence arrests in other states.
Valencia was taken into custody after an investigation and faces homicide charges, officials said.
The victim has not been identified pending next of kin notification.
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